Auxilia Myrmidon
“...++CORPUS FINIS+MACHINA MAGNUS+SANCTUS METALLUM+POTESTAS OMNISSIAH, OMNISSIAH VULT+DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF THE MACHINE GOD++CORPUS FIN...” — Repeating transmission, overwhelming all signal channels, the annihilation of House Caloclast, Hive Tarsus Although all initiates of the Machine God are versed to some extent in conflict and the skills of warfare, certain Mechanicus sects and military formations exist to study the art of destruction with the ardent fervor that their fellows might apply to the creation of machinery or the recovering of lost technoarcana. Chief among these in the Calixis Sector are the forces of the Auxilia Myrmidon, also known by some as the siege engineers or war-savants. Legend has it they came to the sector during the earliest days of the Angevin Crusade for reasons of their own, and have since remained to defend the Cult Mechanicus’s possessions here. One of the major power blocks for the Calixian Mechanicus, the Auxilia Myrmidon is primarily concerned with the protection of Cult Mechanicus strongholds, siegecraft, and maintaining a high level of skill with the various weapons systems and devices of war. Myrmidons are expert killers, weapon masters and destroyers. At the behest of the ruling Archmagos of the Forge Worlds, they are sent to accompany explorators in investigating finds in the most dangerous sectors of space and retrieve the most hazardous xenos-specimens, while others are tasked to hunt down renegades accused of the foulest techno-heresies and terminate them with extreme prejudice. Tech-priests who devote themselves to battle are often inducted into one of the militant sects as their knowledge and prowess increases over time, either through their own application or the will of their distant Archmagos masters. The first rank of the Mechanicus militant is the Secutor, an ancient designation believed to date back, like much of the Auxilia’s organization and secrets, to the armed forces of the Mechanum of Mars in distant pre-Imperial antiquity. It is a fact that only adds to their mystery and makes them a subject for some concern to those in the Adepta whose arcane knowledge stretches to understand what this implies. Certainly this conclusion is backed-up by the ancient and terrifying weapons, relics of that distant past which they are known to sometimes employ. Within the Calixis Sector, the undisputed center of the Auxilia Myrmidon’s power is the Lathe System and its vast forge network, and in particular their heavy fortified arsenal and base on the city-sized Panopticon orbital station. From this mustering ground, the relatively few Myrmidons are dispatched in small bands to oversee the defenses of the Mechanicus’s domains, seek out and destroy their enemies. The Myrmidons, although largely independent, are closely linked to the Archmagos of the Lathes, who is one of their guarantors of their dominance. They are not, however, the only militant Mechanicus faction in the sector, and over the last century a highly mystical tech-sect based at the forge facilities on the death world of Haddrak in the northern rim of the Drusus Marches has grown to prominence and increasing power. The Divine Light of Sollex, as they call themselves, are zealots in the Machine God’s cause, as coldly fanatic and savage in their way as any Redemptionist of the Imperial Creed. To them, the preservation of the arcane mysteries of the Machine Cult from those who would misuse them are of far greater worth than petty wealth, worldly power or the lives of their fellow men, or even other members of the Cult Mechanicus. Towering figures of steel shrouded in blood-red robes and bedecked in hardpoint, mounted weaponry of arcane manufacture, the Myrmidons and other tech-priests militant are war makers whose knowledge of the arts of siege craft, weaponry and devastation is without peer. Although few in number, they are baleful opponents to face in battle. Heavily augmented, they are relentless, implacable, and the most powerful among them are all but impossible to kill. Myrmidons are held in no little fear and awe by other members of the Machine Cult, and have commonly subjected themselves to cybernetic reconstruction far beyond enginseers or precepts. In the Calixis Sector, the Auxilia Myrmidon enjoys the patronage of most of the Lathe-Covenant Council, meaning that the Auxilia receives a great deal of influence and favor. Of late, a large number of Auxilia Myrmidon Secutors have been marshalling their forces for war---some say to get involved in the fighting on the Spinward Front of the Calixis Sector. The High Fabricator has made note that the Myrmidons are gathering together in unprecedented numbers on Heterodyne Station, and a number of dataliths regarding large-scale tactics and organization have been channeled there via transmat. 'Unique Equipment' Panoptic 0-5 Automata Pistol Class: Pistol (SP) The construction of these weapons is, by ancient tradition, one of the tests of craft that each would-be tech-priest armorer must undertake under the tutelage of the Myrmidon Warsmiths of the Panopticon Orbital in the Lathe System. Aspirants are given a complex and randomly incomplete pattern for the weapon, and through skill and divination must produce a working gun to their master’s satisfaction. The successful finished articles are then offered up to the Omnissiah as a sacrifice, and vaporized on the plasma-fire altars of the Machine God. It is quite common for the tech-priests who have studied at the Panopticon to continue to make these pistols in this ritualistic way as a form of mediation and to hone their skills, either using them as personal armaments or giving them as gifts to favored servants, or more rarely offering them for sale. These intricate automata-guns feature two separate ammunition cylinders and count as being fitted with a Fire Selector. Pistol, 35m, S/2/–, 1d10+3, I, PEN 0, Clip 5 (×2), RLD 2Full, Reliable, WT 2kg, Cost 225, Rare 'Alternate Career Rank' Some tech-priests are drawn to the path of the Secutor through a fascination with the unique and intellectual challenges warfare provides, while others feel themselves drawn to the intricacies and beauties of creation and destruction, or the sacred art of weaponsmithing. Others simply see this path as a means to an end, either for the protection of the Machine Cult, the furtherance of their own independent researches, or some other, hidden agenda. Regardless of their vocation, a tech-priest skilled in such destructive arts as the Secutor is an invaluable ally for an Inquisitor, and makes for a singularly lethal Acolyte. The only downside to such an association is that the Holy Ordos can never be fully sure where the tech-priest Secutor’s loyalties lie---even more so than others of their kind---or what ancient and dark secrets they may themselves possesses. Required Career: Tech-Priest Alternate Rank: 4 or higher (2,000 XP) Other Requirements: WS 35, BS 35, WP 35, any four Weapon Training talents.